Emily walked out of the Academy without a single word to another soul. Her bag was slung over her shoulder, carrying everything she brought to the Academy from home, and her flame pendant was fit snugly around her neck. She walked down the winding trail to reach the bus station to catch the bus that would take her home. As she walked, she felt a single water type signature, but thought nothing of it because she thought it may have been Aurora following her or one of the other water affined students, perhaps out for a walk. She continued walking, occasionally readjusting her duffle bag on her shoulder. She continued sensing the water type signature and felt something was off. Something felt strange to her, and now she knew what it was. If the water type signature she was sensing was that of Aurora or another student, she would have seen them by now. She dropped her bag and just stood there, as if waiting for someone, or something.

“You can come out now. I know you’ve been following me since I left. Who are you and what do you want?” Emily said.

A girl came out from behind a tree and approached Emily. She had light brown hair that was in a short, pixie cut style and she had almond-shaped, brown eyes.

“My name is Kyla Atwater and I want you to come with me. Won’t you come with me, please?”

Kyla couldn’t have been any older than Emily and she seemed like a quiet girl, but Emily knew looks could be deceiving, so she went on her guard.

“I’m sorry, Kyla, but I can’t come with you right now. I have things to do and they need to get done.”

Kyla looked over at the bag by Emily.

“You’re going somewhere, aren’t you?”

“I’m leaving.”

“You need to come with me. I have some friends that would like to meet you.”

“I’m sorry, Kyla, but I really can’t come with you right now.”

“I’m sorry too. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this, but since you won’t come with me, I have no choice.”

With that, Kyla formed a whip made of water and began lashing it out toward Emily. Emily jumped back out of the way of the liquid whip and formed a couple of fireballs in her hand, already knowing that she was at a disadvantage, as a fire type, against a water type, but she had to defend herself somehow. She closed her eyes and focused on her weapon, her scythe appearing in her hands in a wreath of flames. She spun her scythe around once and prepared to attack.

“You are fire and I am water. How do you expect to win this fight at a disadvantage?”

“Flare Bolt! There’s always a way to overcome disadvantages, which is by turning my disadvantage into an advantage.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

She’s right, how am I going to turn this big disadvantage into a big advantage for me? Emily thought to herself, then she gave herself an idea, something that Mr. Ferno had taught her.

Emily closed her eyes and focused her power into Flare Bolt, letting her power course through the metal. She felt a tingle in her fingertips, like she had been shocked by an electric current. This could’ve also meant that she had finally tapped into her electrokinetic powers, which is what she thought had just happened. After she channeled her power into Flare Bolt, she pointed it in Kyla’s direction, ready to release the energy she had built up. Suddenly, she felt her whole body tingling and she felt as though her body was on fire. White-yellow crackles of electricity zapped around her body, electrifying her. Emily dropped Flare Bolt with a startle, the electricity too much for her body to handle. She had focused too much power into her weapon and it was more energy than her body could handle. Her back arched as she screamed in pain, her hair frizzing and flying out around her face. She fell to her knees and slumped forward a bit before falling on her side, passed out. Flare Bolt disappeared and Kyla walked over to Emily, looking at her a bit sadly. Then, Kyla picked Emily up, slung her over her shoulder, opened a portal of swirling water, and walked through it, transporting them to an unknown place.